Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

NNSL (Mar 15/99) - Thanks to a generous donation made by NAV Canada, many children in Resolute Bay are sleeping on beds for the first time.

Harold Stacey, a technical services worker for the federal body, said after the NAV Canada staff house closed down -- it housed upwards of 100 people at its fullest capacity -- they were left with a surplus of beds, dressers and tables of all shapes and sizes.

"Basically, the staff house closed down and the furniture would have just been sitting there going to waste and I knew the hamlet could make good use of it," said Stacey, an Arctic resident for nearly a decade.

After receiving several phone calls from residents of the hamlet inquiring about the stock, Stacey said he knew he'd made the right decision.

"Myself, I can't see things going to waste when someone needs it. It's a damn sin," said Stacey.

Jason Hennebury, the economic development officer of the hamlet, said NAV Canada's offer was appreciated.

"Resolute Bay isn't bad off, but when you have a family with four, five or six kids, every little bit helps," said Hennebury.

To ensure that people in need of the furniture got first dibs, and to guard against commercial organizations acquiring it and selling it at a profit, Hennebury helped come up with an idea that benefited everyone.

"Our first goal was that every kid would get a bed. We ended up telling everyone to come on down to the hamlet office at 1 p.m. on Saturday. We said let us know what you want and we'll charge you a delivery fee depending on how many pieces of furniture you take."

Beds were earmarked for parents with young children and the amount of other kinds of furniture people were allowed to take depended on the size of their family.

Hennebury said a total of 35 different households were on the delivery list last weekend and he explained that a fun auction would be held later this month to distribute the rest.

The minimal fee that was charged for the delivery services went towards fuel for the trucks that were used and to buy refreshments for the movers, who included the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, the Canadian Rangers, hamlet employees, the fire department and the Co-op.

The rest of the money that was raised will be put aside for a future non-profit hamlet project that benefits the community as a whole.

"It's not the hamlet's place to take money from the community. We're here to help the community. Sure we need money...but there are other ways to raise those funds rather than drag it out of them," said Hennebury.

Hamlet senior administrator officer Dan Leaman said so far, they had raised about $1,000 and he added that a special furniture bank had been established in the event that a family experienced a fire.

"When a fire happens and the family is traumatized, they often have to move into a house with no furniture or maybe just one table and an old chair. This way, within a few hours, we can make it very comfortable."